ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602120016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: JON GLASS LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
LEGISLATIVE DEADLOCK has all but killed a plan to let school boards give groups a right to set up their own schools. Critics say it's a victory against elitism.
Barring a legislative miracle, charter schools have been laid to rest in Virginia this year, yanking a central plank from Gov. George Allen's education agenda and disappointing parents and others who wanted a different way to educate children.
In a vote reflecting the state's debate over the issue, the House of Delegates Education Committee deadlocked 11-11 Friday on a bill that would have allowed local school boards to grant "charters" to individuals or groups, including businesses and teachers, to run experimental schools free of many state regulations.
As it stands now, Virginia will not be joining 20 other states that since 1991 have approved laws to permit charter schools, one of the hottest new ideas in education reform sweeping the country.
The bill being considered would have let parents and teachers work with local school boards to define a mission. It allowed the school boards to close charter schools down if they failed to achieve predetermined goals, including performing up to state academic standards in math, science, social studies and English.
The unusual tie vote all but killed the bill this session, legislators said.
``I don't think there's a thing that could change that vote, short of divine intervention,'' said Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, co-sponsor of the legislation.
But the Allen administration may try to revive it using legislative maneuvers.
"It's still early in the session, and it's not over till it's over," said Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe.
Even so, Stroupe conceded that the time still may not be right for charter schools, which opponents have killed or bottled up for three straight years.
"It's most unfortunate, and it's a disappointment," Stroupe said. "It's a common-sense proposal that had an enormous potential for improving our public school system."
The measure was backed by a bipartisan coalition. Del. Paul Councill, D-Southampton County, chairman of the Education Committee, signed on with Hamilton to co-sponsor it.
Councill, who led a yearlong study committee that attempted to answer opponents' concerns, said he was surprised by Friday's vote. Only two days earlier, members on an Education subcommittee voted 4-2 to recommend approval.
"I think it flies in the face of our efforts to give local control to our school boards," Councill said. "It bothers me that we don't have any more faith to let our localities make these decisions."
Opponents, however, continued to question the need for charter schools and voiced fears that eventually they would siphon money from existing schools and become enclaves for the elite.
"This was a wise decision," said Del. Shirley Cooper, D-Yorktown, a high school math teacher who voted against the bill. "We have all the tools we need within the confines of the existing system to be creative, to get clever."
During a public hearing last month, the bill was criticized by the Virginia chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, whose president vowed to fight "at every turn" because of fears charter schools would resegregate Virginia's school system.
Many educators shared similar concerns.
"If you start carving out niches for certain groups of people or organizations, you potentially could run into problems of equity," said David Blount, a spokesman for the Virginia School Boards Association, which opposed the bill. "If we have failing schools, we need to improve them and all our schools, systematically."
Proponents said this year's bill would have guarded against elitism, in part because it excludes private, religious or home schools. Also, at least half of the students targeted were to be "at risk," identified primarily by social or economic disadvantages.
The bill was toned down substantially from previous versions, including one backed last year by Allen that would have granted charter schools broad waivers from regulations and given local school boards limited control.
William Bosher, state superintendent of public instruction, said the national debate over charter schools may have clouded the issue in Virginia.
"A good argument can't penetrate the lightning that surrounds that debate," Bosher said.
Bosher added that he regretted the issue may not get a hearing before the full General Assembly.
"Whether or not they're called charter schools, we need to continue to look for options to strengthen public schools," Bosher said. "The tragedy is that you can't fight emotion with logic."
Councill, as well as Stroupe, said the issue probably will resurface next year.
"I'm sure it's not gone forever," Councill said.
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